Former Studebaker Service Station at 1000 Dean Street in Crown Heights to Become Creative Workspace

This story is kind of like marrying your wife and only afterwards remembering that you’d met her at a party a long time ago. Only it involves a building. Quite a big building actually.

Back in July 2010 we wrote a blog post about a beautiful old garage-turned-storage-facility at 1000 Dean Street between Classon and Franklin in the Northwestern corner of Crown Heights known as Crow Hill. (Turns out it was formerly the Studebaker Service Station!) At the time, we wrote, “In our opinion, the no-man’s land south of Atlantic Avenue on western edge of Crown Heights is the most interesting, untapped area of Brownstone Brooklyn.” We didn’t give the building much more thought until the following summer when we noticed on the Massey Knakal listing that the asking price on the building had been reduced by almost 15 percent. At the time, the market for creative office space had recovered big time, with both Dumbo and the Navy Yard operating at almost full capacity. We printed out a map and drew a one-mile radius around 1000 Dean Street and confirmed that several neighborhoods with populations chock full of creative professionals were within walking and biking distance: In addition to Crown Heights, there was Bed Stuy, Clinton Hill, Prospect Heights and even bits of Fort Greene and Park Slope (barely!).

It turns out that there’s a reason that the blocks bounded by Grand, Franklin, Atlantic and Bergen had not changed much in recent years while the surrounding areas had attracted tons of investment: M-1 zoning, which means no residential development. The silver lining as someone looking to invest was that both demand and asking prices were accordingly lower than they otherwise would have been. Over the coming weeks, we reached out to the Urban Investment Group, a division of Goldman Sachs that has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in low-income neighborhoods in recent years, and found a receptive financing partner. From there, we joint-ventured with BFC Partners, a prolific developer with a thirty-year track record building affordable, market-rate and mixed-use projects around the city. (Hello, Toren.) Next, we connected with two active Community Development Entities, Waveland Ventures from Austin, TX and United Fund Advisors from Portland, OR, who saw strong potential for the project to generate jobs and economic activity in this area and elected to allocate New Market Tax Credits to the project. Finally, we sought the input and support of the city’s Economic Development Corporation, the Empire State Development Corp., the Brooklyn Borough President’s office and Council Member Letitia James.

Lastly, as the article in today’s Wall Street Journal reported, we closed ten days ago on the 155,000-square-foot, three-building complex for $11 million. (To get around paywall, simply type “Crown Heights Deal Puts Blogger to Test” into Google.) When all’s said and done (meaning the renovation), the group will have invested close to $30 million in bringing this piece of Brooklyn’s industrial past back to life; in the process, we hope that some of the neighboring landlords will be inspired to start investing in their own underutilized properties. We’re in great hands on the design side, too: We’ve hired the Selldorf Architects to oversee the renovation of the building, which will include all new windows as well as a new core of elevators and bathrooms. (You can look forward to some fun renovation blogging over the next year.) To top it off, the Brooklyn Flea is going to be creating a 9,000-square-foot food and beer hall on the Bergen Street side of the project (photo on the jump) that will feature a number of popular food vendors from The Flea and Smorgasburg.

As for the rest of the building, we’re just starting to think about tenants. In our dreams, the main building will be a mix of large and small creative tenants drawn from the immediate and surrounding neighborhoods, including food producers, tech start-ups, artists, writers, furniture makers, jewelry makers, etc. We’re hoping to start officially marketing the spaces later this year. In the meantime, if you think you might be interested in setting up shop in the building–whether it be for 500 or 5,000 or 50,000 square feet–we’d appreciate your filling out this short survey that will help us start to form plans for how to divide up the space and will put you at the top of the list to be contacted when the time comes. GMAP

We look forward to–and appreciate–all input and advice as the details for the project start to take shape.

Well, physical space is quite similar, but Dean Street in smack in the middle of several thriving neighborhoods whereas Bush Terminal is, shall we say, less convenient. Hopefully the Flea food and beer hall will also be some inducement to potential tenants too.

WHOA! That is most excellent news! Props to You Mr. B….you called it years ago, and as a very nearby neighbor to this industrial patch, it’s badly in need of an anchor to herald it’s transformation…Best news for Crown Heights in a while! Now that huge brewery on Franklin will go next…

Activity like this, along with the pace of house sales and high end sales plus all of the projects that have started/restarted (see the rest of today’s thread) indicate a firm resurgence in RE activity and overall growth in brooklyn.

So now you’re a developer? Great! Awesome and best of luck on this project. If you decide you also want to get into flipping derelict residential properties in Bed Stuy and Bushwick and saving the historic details, please give me a call.

So now you’re a developer? Great! Awesome and best of luck on this project. If you decide you also want to get into flipping derelict residential properties in Bed Stuy and Bushwick and saving the historic details, please give me a call.

“several neighborhoods with populations chock full of creative professionals were within walking and biking distance: In addition to Crown Heights, there was Bed Stuy, Clinton Hill, Prospect Heights and even bits of Fort Greene and Park Slope (barely!).”

Whoa, good luck, hope it does well! I’m a member of the 3rd Ward which is more of a school rather than office space, but it overlaps with your idea in many ways. Quite a few members are coming over from “Brownstone Brooklyn” (as opposed to Bushwick / Williamsburg), so hopefully you’ll have enough demand within the area. I think most creative talent is currently in North BK (Williamsburg, Bushwick, Morgantown) – so hopefully you’ll accept tenants from outside the 1-mile radius too Not sure about Manhattan though!

Wow is right. So are the congratulations! To watch your movement from a fledgling blog, to a “source” blog, to the Flea, to the Flea and Smorgasburg, now to this? Not just great for you but for the nabe as well. I’m impressed.

Hey Mr. B, have you heard of any plans for the huge brewery space next door to your parcels (on Franklin end of block)? I’m sure this will raise interest in that space as well…did you consider this property?

Every time I pass this block, which is quite often coming back from points west, I fantasize about buying the Perika Chocolate factory building, just on the other side of this one. This is a fantastic corridor for creative people to make something special. Not a DUMBO, or even a pre-hipster Williamsburg, but a unique area with its own personality. Unlike those other areas, as well as Bush Terminal, this is surrounded by solid residential neighborhoods, grounding the area, supplying tenants, employees and customers. If the plans for the brewery complex ever come into fruition, this is going to be huge.

I only ask that every effort be made in providing local, disenfranchised folk with jobs, whenever possible, so it’s not another case of outsiders landing, doing their thing in a neighborhood no one cared about, making it a huge draw for other new people, and leaving the original neighborhood out in the cold, still looking in. I know you are aware of those concerns, and will address them as much as is under your control.

Amazing. I used to have space in the Long Island City art center (http://www.licartcenter.com), which was similar – mixed use creative spaces, gallery on first floor and coffee shop. They even had a small theater. There are galleries and other industrial spaces around it… but this is much bigger and real neighborhoods surrounding it. Sign me up scotty!

Looks like a great project, best of luck. The woodshop at 3rd ward seems to be quite busy from professionals utilizing the machines. I’ll bet you could do quite well if you devote some of that incredible space to a co-working shop.

Nice! the GS involvement is just additional evidence this is quite the smart deal — come in with core structural work only and a sustainable plan to operate the complex as a commercial-only enterprise, anticipating steady if not spectacular returns and appreciation. When the eventual rezoning happens here, potential for residential use multiplies valuations overnight and the exit strategy writes itself. well done.

Nice! the GS involvement is just additional evidence this is quite the smart deal — come in with core structural work only and a sustainable plan to operate the complex as a commercial-only enterprise, anticipating steady if not spectacular returns and appreciation. When the eventual rezoning happens here, potential for residential use multiplies valuations overnight and the exit strategy writes itself. well done.

just filled up the survey form & sent.
Am I the first one signing up ?
Great project !!!
Much needed space in my neighborhood.
Can’t wait to get a space in this bldg.
5 min. walking distance from home. Can’t be better !!!